Chelsea have reportedly been given a clear path to the signing of Real Madrid forward Alvaro Morata after Tottenham dropped out of the race.
The 24-year-old re-joined Los Blancos last summer with the promise of having a prominent role at the Bernabeu, but it hasn’t worked out for him as he would have hoped.
Morata has had limited minutes in 36 appearances in all competitions this season, but has still scored 17 goals in all competitions as he has been a key figure for the Spanish giants.
However, as noted by The Daily Star, Chelsea will press ahead with plans to snap him up at the end of the season with Tottenham now no longer providing competition as Mauricio Pochettino has distanced his club from making a bid for the former Juventus star.
“He’s a great kid and a very good player but it’s not realistic that situation, thinking Morata [is] for us.”
That in turn should be a major boost for Chelsea and Antonio Conte, with the Italian tactician signing Morata while he was at Juventus in 2014, but he left to take the Italy job before having the chance to work with the Spaniard.
As per Diario Gol this weekend, Morata is ready to leave Spain and coupled with the fact that his partner has bought a house in London, it has also strengthened rumours that a move to Chelsea is in the offing.
Further, it’s added that Madrid president Florentino Perez will not allow him to leave the club for anything less than €40m, and so although Spurs are no longer an issue for Chelsea, they will still have to dig deep into their pockets to prise Morata away from the Bernabeu.